But I don’t have time for a new website or SEO…the pitfalls of being a business owner

We’ve heard every excuse in the book for not building a professional website design or focusing efforts on Search Engine Optimization.

We have heard it over and over throughout the years from busy entrepreneurs—”I don’t have time to work on my website because {insert excuse here}.” Also, “I don’t need SEO. I have plenty of business.”

Or my favorite, “SEO is expensive.”

You’re right SEO IS expensive. It’s so expensive that it’s costing you, not the price of your package from your SEO company, but it is costing you thousands and thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Every time you do not come up in the search engine results, you are losing money. Think about the amount of searches for services exactly like yours that you have zero chance at. The numbers will blow your mind if you really think about it.

Your money is online. SEO and Web Design help you get there.

We’ve also heard from the same people that their leads are drying up and the phone hasn’t been ringing. Sigh.

If you own a business, you need a website. If you own a business, you need SEO. Even if you are already busy with all the referrals you can handle, you need a website and you need SEO.

But, why do I need a professional website and SEO if I’m already busy?

Professionalism – No website? Then you’re already behind the 8 ball. As soon as you get compared online by a customer, you lose to the company who has a pro website.

Referrals are not guaranteed –No matter how big you build your referral network, they can dry up and they can slow down. If anything, when referrals are great it is the exact time to attack your online presence because you want to build a sustainable growing business.

Dominance – Some people are in business to do just enough to get by. Some people want to be the best and dominate their field. If you’re the latter, then you want to dominate the search engine every time someone types in a keyword related to your business. Think it’s not important and you can wait for your search rankings to organically grow? Over 90% of searchers never go past the first page of Google Results!

Quality of Customers – You can serve customer A or customer B. Customer A is cheap, complains and ends up costing you in the long run. Customer B is your perfect customer. Customer B spends money, doesn’t complain, wants results, and is willing to pay for them. With the right online strategy, the right customers come to you. There is a point as a business where you take everything you can get for survival, and there is also a point as a business that you get to define who your customer is. A professional web design and top Google page rankings is a big piece of that puzzle.

Selling Your Business – Being at the top of Google with an amazing online presence adds value to your business and down the road, if you do decide to sell, your buyer will be very happy that you have spent the time and money on dominating with your online presence.

The money is online – Whose got your money? The people holding cell phones, typing on laptops, and browsing through tablets. They’ve got your money. Are you connecting with them? When they ask, “who is the best company in Charleston for {insert service here}?” are you coming up?

So, should you have SEO and a Professional Website Design?

I could honestly go on for hours, maybe days on all the reasons that you should have a professional website design and search engine optimization. The end results if you are working with the best of the best in web design and SEO are fantastic. Being on the first page of Google can change your entire business. This isn’t a sales pitch for Fu Dog Media. This is just simple truth. If you want to be a dominant force in your industry, you should do the things that will make you dominant.